Stalker

34

Erik feels pleased with himself that he can play all the way to the eighteenth bar with his right hand, even if his left hand can only manage six. Jackie smiles to herself for a few seconds, but decides not to give him any praise, and asks instead if he’s been practising the way she told him to.

‘As often as I’ve been able to,’ he assures her.

‘Can I hear?’

‘I’ve been practising, but it doesn’t sound right.’

‘There’s nothing bad about making mistakes,’ Jackie points out.

‘But you won’t want me as a pupil if I play too badly.’

‘Erik, there’s no danger of-’

‘And I really love being here,’ he goes on.

‘That’s nice to hear… But if you’re going to learn how to play, you’ve got to…’

Jackie tails off in the middle of the sentence and blushes, before raising her chin again.

‘Are you flirting with me?’ she asks with a sceptical smile.

‘Am I?’ he laughs.

‘OK,’ she says seriously.

‘I’ll try playing the piece I practised, if you promise not to laugh.’

‘What will happen if I laugh?’ she asks.

‘That will just prove that you’ve got a sense of humour.’

She smiles broadly just as Madeleine comes in, dressed in her nightie and a pair of slippers.

‘Goodnight, Erik,’ she says.

He smiles. ‘Goodnight, Madeleine.’

Jackie gets up and follows her daughter to her bedroom. Erik watches them go, and has just put his left hand on the keys when he sees that Madeleine has forgotten her stuffed hedgehog on the armchair.

He picks it up and goes after them, turning right into the corridor. The door of the girl’s room is open and the light is on. He can see Madeleine’s back, and Jackie turning back the covers.

‘Maddy,’ he says, opening the door. ‘You forgot…’

He gets no further before the door slams into his face and bounces back. Madeleine is screaming hysterically and slams the door again. Erik tumbles backwards into the wall of the corridor and puts his hand to his nose as the blood starts to flow.

Madeleine is still screaming in her room, and he hears something fall to the floor and break.

He goes into the bathroom, puts the hedgehog down, squeezes his nose and hears the girl calm down. After a while Jackie emerges into the hall and knocks softly on the bathroom door.

‘Are you OK? I don’t understand what-’

‘Tell her I’m sorry,’ Erik interrupts. ‘I forgot the sign, I just wanted to give her hedgehog back.’

‘She was asking where it was.’

‘It’s on the cabinet in here,’ Erik says, opening the door. ‘I didn’t want to get blood on it.’

‘Are you bleeding?’

‘Not really, just a slight nosebleed.’

Jackie takes the hedgehog and goes back to her daughter while Erik rinses his face. He returns to the piano as Jackie comes out again.

‘Sorry,’ she says, holding her hands out. ‘I don’t understand what got into her.’

‘She’s wonderful,’ Erik says.

Jackie nods. ‘Yes, she really is.’

‘My son is eighteen, and he’s still never managed to switch the dishwasher on… But now he’s living with his mother, and she’s a bit tougher than me…’

They fall silent. Jackie is standing in the middle of the room, she can smell Erik, a smell of clean clothes and warm wood from his aftershave. Her face is sombre as she wraps her knitted cardigan more tightly round her, as if she were cold.

‘Would you like a glass of wine?’ she asks.